04 Aug 2020 11:55:07
Ed002- its reported that smalling is coming back from Roma after a deal collapsed; just wondering if there is any firm interest in him or any other of our current players from other clubs. thanks.

{Ed002's Note - The interest in Smalling is from Roma who made a good offer but the amateurs priced him out of a move.}

1.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 13:51:27
Wow Ian you really hate United don't you hahaha.

{Ed047's Note - who is this Ian you speak of?

2.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 14:15:53
With Jones, Bailly and Tuanzebe perpetually injured maybe there is still a place for Smalling at Old Trafford. If Utd don't intend to sign another CB this summer then keeping Smalling might not be such a bad idea.

Could he make a decent partner for Maguire? He's certainly stronger, quicker and better in the air than Lindelof, watching him play out from the back however, especially under pressure might need to come with a health warning!

3.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 14:55:40
Roma should pay what United feel he is worth in the same way that United have to pay what other clubs value their own players at. Works both ways.

4.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 15:09:40
Fair enough, in that case you keep smalling on the books, seems pretty simple.

5.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 16:06:55
I think this is another stupid decision by the club, just like when we pushed Everton for more money to take Rojo off our hands.

Ultimately we will be left with a player who will hardly play and will cost the club significantly more than the extra 2m we pushed for in wages over the next year.

We have far too many squad players who just aren't good enough and are a huge financial drain on the club.

Smalling (0 minutes), Rojo (122 minutes), Jones (136 minutes), TFM (137 minutes), Bailly (148 minutes), Dalot (66 minutes), Mata (783 minutes), Lingard (932 minutes), Andreas Pereira (1496 minutes) and Sanchez (0 minutes) .

Look at the minutes these players have played for us this season, between them they claimed just under 92m of our 238m wage bill, for an average of 381 minutes each or just over 4 games.

over one third and approaching 50% of our wage bill goes to players who average less than 5 games each a year.

Now when you consider that Mata, Lingard and Andreas Pereira make up 3211 of the total 3811 minutes, with most of those minutes coming before Bruno signed and we are looking at Sancho as well as Greenwood probably playing more minutes next season. Then its safe to assume that those 10 players will likely play significantly less minutes between them next season.

In short they are a waste of money, the club is wasting close to 100m a year paying these players when they have little to no impact on the team.

Sell them, hell give them away and the club will be significantly better off.

Smalling 0, Jones 136, TFM 137, Bailly 148 and Rojo 122 all played just over 6 whole games between them. Sell the lot of them and give 6 games a season to Mengi and the club won't be any worse off.

Dalot played 66 minutes, give them to Laird.

Sign someone like DvdB to play the many of the minutes that Mata, Lingard and Andreas Pereira have played this season and you could probably pay him less than just what Mata earns. Along with Sancho signing and Bruno now being here we would be well covered. If push comes to shove we could play Garner or Mejbri in an advanced midfield position for a game or two.

The club really do not benefit one bit from keeping these players. ship them out, if we could get 20-40m for all of them considering the close to 100m in wages we would save we would be far better off. While the extra minutes academy lads get here and there might mean we see someone come through, seize their chance like Williams or Greenwood and then save the club a fortunate on having to sign another player.

6.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 16:32:04
Personally happy to see Smalling come back. As I’ve said, Rojo, Jones, Bailly and Tuanzebe are never fit for selection. Pointless keeping them.

7.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 16:41:33
Think its a bit harsh to give smalling 0 minutes . He played 37 games last season .

8.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 16:43:55
Ed002 If the roles were reversed and it was Roma who owned smalling and United came in for him after the season he has just had then they would of quoted a far more costly fee to acquire him, so why is it amateurish to demand £18m (the price I’ve read we’re asking) a relatively low price given the very good season he had had?

{Ed002's Note - The club is run by amateurs - I didn't say it was amateurish. You don't seem to get this at all.}

9.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 17:04:25
nellym
We deemed Smalling surplus to requirement and not good enough. Roma are trying to buy a player up for sale not a first team player that the club is desperate to keep. So we can't play hardballtoo much when the player isn't in high demand either.

10.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 17:06:32
Ed002, is it down to the Glazers to appoint the right people, or have they allowed others to make the Decisions? I wonder if their other sports franchises are run with amateurs?

{Ed002's Note - It is nothing to do with the Glazers - the own the club but don't run it on a day-by-day basis.}

11.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 17:47:07
Jred, the club paid a third of Smalling's wages this season. How many appearances for Manchester United did he make for the around 2m that came out of club coffers to pay him?

The 2m extra we want for him, is around what we have paid him this season while he made absolutely no contribution to our season.

Why waste money on these players? Sell them, for whatever we can. The money saved on wages alone would be significant and maybe even free up enough money for an extra signing or two if the club wanted.

12.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 17:51:24
Let him stay if the club feels its right.

13.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 19:53:32
Smalling is a player I wouldn't mind us keeping. Rojo and Jones? Let them go for nothing, but Smalling is a decent player. Not good enough to be first choice at a top-6 club, but decent enough as a backup.

14.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 20:42:59
i think we let smalling go and brough Axel back to fill his space in the squad. That hasn't worked out. I would much rather we keep smalling if we are not going to sign another CB and sell jones and rojo and promote mengi. so rather than have rojo, jones and axel as a back up trio to bailly, mcguire and lindelof, we will have smalling, axel and mengi. i know which one i would prefer.

Also, maybe we feel we can get a better price for smalling elsewhere? unlikely, but not farfetched given the season he has had.

it could also be a ploy to make sure we are not in a position where we sell smalling for a pittance and can't get the CB we want, so have to keep jones in the club for cover.

i can see multiple ways where this would make sense - maybe that's just me searching for the silver lining.

15.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 20:46:02
Deependra-I know smalling is surplus but that doesn’t mean we should sell him for less than he is worth given the season he has just had. Furthermore there is apparently interest in him from other teams in serie a hence the reason of not selling for such a low ball figure.

16.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 21:35:02
As it stands we have 7 cbs in the first team squad. Ideally we want 5max so 2 would have to go without purchasing a new cb which we look like we may and also not bringing through anyone from the youth setup which again we may do with Mengi.

so say Mengi becomes 5th choice, Harry, Lindelof and new CB are 3 of 4 that leaves 1 spot. I would keep Bailly with the hope he can stay fit or sell next year, loan out Tuanzebe for the season and hope he gets a good run of first team games before coming back stronger next season. Which would mean Smalling, Rojo and Jones being sold for what ever we can get for them.

17.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 22:06:41
PogtheDog - i agree with you, but that is only the case when all 5 CBs are experienced and can deliver to the minimum standard and relatively injury proof. For e. g. if one was injured (Bailly) and we needed to play 3 at the back that would mean we have Mengi on the bench as our only recognised CB. If two are injured (Bailly and Axel) than all hell will break loose. I nkow wan bissaka and shaw can cover one of these positions but it is not a good position to be in, especially if you are playing Saturday- Tuesday - Saturday for at least 10 weeks in the season. Moreover this season is bound to be more hectic as it is shortened with the Euros and olympics coming up. I think Smalling will turn out to be a decent squad player and give the likes of Mcguire and lindelof a rest and partner with bailly / Axel as required.

18.) 04 Aug 2020
04 Aug 2020 23:34:37
Ryan,

I don’t remember us playing 3 at the back with 3 centre backs many times this season, Shaw has played on the left of the 3 on the occasions when it worked best.

19.) 05 Aug 2020
05 Aug 2020 05:24:18
nellym
We were desperate to get rid of Smalling last summer. He doesn't have a future under Ole. So we are not in a strong negotiating position. On top of that We as a club are known to give big money contracts to players making them hard for most of the clubs to afford. Also Ed2 has mentioned that Roma made a good enough offer and didn't lowball us. It is better to let fringe players leave for a decent fee instead of moving the goal post whenever someone gets close to the asking price.

And to people saying we get ripped whenever we try to sign players from other teams we should remember we go after first choice player that have a lot of value to their sides. Maybe if we went after the dross and fringe players we wouldn't be ripped off so often.

20.) 05 Aug 2020
05 Aug 2020 07:25:18
Gds we played axel McGuire and Lindelof earlier in the season before axel got injured. If I remember right we played Bailly McGuire and Lindelof in the fa cup as well.

21.) 06 Aug 2020
06 Aug 2020 16:13:17
What are Axel’s injury problems? Why has he missed so much football?

Jones is a lost cause sadly.

22.) 07 Aug 2020
07 Aug 2020 11:17:41
Tempt Napoli into a player plus cash using Smalling and Koulibaly 😈.